Backstage at every Pacific Symphony concert, ready to take over in case "anything unforeseen happens," stands assistant conductor Lucas Richman. So far, however, every guest conductor of the orchestra has stayed remarkably, unspeakably, fit and trim, so Richman, 26, has remained the standby rather than the kid who goes on stage a rookie and walks off a star.

Lucas Richman, assistant conductor of the Pacific Symphony since 1988, will leave the orchestra at the end of the 1990-91 concert season, officials said Wednesday. "He's going to be a hard guy to replace," said executive director Louis G. Spisto. "He's done a phenomenal job." Spisto said he and Richman agreed a year ago that this season would be Richman's last. It would be unusual, Spisto said, for a conductor to serve as an assistant for the same orchestra for more than three seasons.

Lucas Richman, assistant conductor of the Pacific Symphony since 1988, will leave the orchestra at the end of the 1990-91 concert season, officials said Wednesday. "He's going to be a hard guy to replace," said executive director Louis G. Spisto. "He's done a phenomenal job." Spisto said he and Richman agreed a year ago that this season would be Richman's last. It would be unusual, Spisto said, for a conductor to serve as an assistant for the same orchestra for more than three seasons.

Backstage at every Pacific Symphony concert, ready to take over in case "anything unforeseen happens," stands assistant conductor Lucas Richman. So far, however, every guest conductor of the orchestra has stayed remarkably, unspeakably, fit and trim, so Richman, 26, has remained the standby rather than the kid who goes on stage a rookie and walks off a star.

Lucas Richman's three-year stint as conductor-in-training of the Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra ends this year. Sunday evening at Royce Hall, UCLA, he led his last concert in that capacity with an agenda of French music. One wonders whether a conductor-in-training can choose his own repertory. If so, Richman has some unusual programming ideas, beginning--or rather ending, Sunday--with Ernest Chausson's rarely heard Symphony in B-flat.

Lucas Richman took the podium for the first time as new assistant conductor of the Pacific Symphony on Friday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. The results were reason for only cautious optimism. Admittedly, Richman, 24, had a number of strikes against him. The orchestra had just come off two straight days of subscription concerts and, doubtless, rehearsal time available to him must have been limited.

The conductor of the first work on the first concert of the Gold Medal series--which presents young artists--at Ambassador Auditorium Monday night will be, appropriately enough, a 20-year-old musician of multiple gifts. Leading the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra in the overture to Mozart's "Don Giovanni" will be Lucas Richman, recipient of the 1984 conductor-in-training grant from YMF.

A bright overture, a serious centerpiece, a flashy closing and solid weight in between--what more can one ask of good programming? And when every item on an agenda is being heard for the first time, a program thus described can be very satisfying, indeed. The union of seven composers and 25 instrumentalists that calls itself Lo-Cal Composers gave such a program, beginning its second season, Sunday night in Gindi Auditorium at the University of Judaism.

Lucas Richman took the podium for the first time as new assistant conductor of the Pacific Symphony on Friday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. The results were reason for only cautious optimism. Admittedly, Richman, 24, had a number of strikes against him. The orchestra had just come off two straight days of subscription concerts and, doubtless, rehearsal time available to him must have been limited.

Lucas Richman's three-year stint as conductor-in-training of the Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra ends this year. Sunday evening at Royce Hall, UCLA, he led his last concert in that capacity with an agenda of French music. One wonders whether a conductor-in-training can choose his own repertory. If so, Richman has some unusual programming ideas, beginning--or rather ending, Sunday--with Ernest Chausson's rarely heard Symphony in B-flat.

The conductor of the first work on the first concert of the Gold Medal series--which presents young artists--at Ambassador Auditorium Monday night will be, appropriately enough, a 20-year-old musician of multiple gifts. Leading the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra in the overture to Mozart's "Don Giovanni" will be Lucas Richman, recipient of the 1984 conductor-in-training grant from YMF.

July 25, 1988 | JOHN VOLAND, Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation's press

Leonard Bernstein will conduct three concerts in Moscow this week with the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra. Saluting perestroika , glasnost and Bernstein's 70th birthday, all of the musicians will perform without fee and the concerts will benefit the U.S.S.R. Musical Society, Culture Fund and Orphans Fund. Other conductors include Lucas Richman from Los Angeles, Rainer Muhlbach from East Germany, Yutaka Sado from Tokyo and Patrick Souillot from Paris.